Beauty in Ancient Arts
by HowAboutThat
Summary: Kelsey can't sleep one night and in the early morning finds Mr. Kadam practicing martial arts. After agreeing to taking on lessons with him, she's left questioning her relationships.
1. Sleepless Night

HAT: Dang it, I'm sucked into Tiger's Curse fanfiction (mostly for Kelsey/Kadam admittedly). Let me show you the flow chart of how I ended up doing this. *pulls out chalkboard with a diagram on it and a pointer* I read Beauty and the Biryani by EmpressIrony, then I decided to look at what she was talking about, Reading with Nella! Tiger's Curse, then I saw all the great stories made inspired by her, and then I decided to jump on the bandwagon and here we are! *throws other things to the side and winces when it crashes* Sorry! Anyway, enjoy (even though I took a kid's approach because I'm very uncomfortable even trying to write anything past kissing)!

**Disclaimer: I basically don't actually own anything since I _barely _own the plot since the concept came from Let's Read With Nella! Tiger's Curse (Chapter 14) and the characters are owned by Colheen Houck (idk if it's spelled right and too lazy to look it up)... T-T dang it...**

* * *

Kelsey Hayes has many problems, most of them she's unwilling to address, but this current one is one that _needs _to be addressed and taken care of.

She can't sleep.

For the past five and a half hours she's been tossing and turning with her eyes closed and occasionally checking her phone to count how many hours of sleep she'll get if she falls asleep that moment. Each half hour she convinces herself to wake up fifteen minutes later than she'd originally planned and now she looks at her phone again with dismay when she sees 04:39 glowing on her screen. She slams her face into her pillow and begs God to let her fall asleep that second and makes promises she'd normally not make if she'd not been so exhausted and desperate for most likely the hundredth time.

_I promise, I won't spit in Ren or Kishan's food next time they make me angry if I go to sleep_ right_ now,_ she thinks as she groans quietly, but alas sleep continues to allude her to which she things to the allusive form of consciousness, _Well, fuck you, too. I like naps better anyway._

She pushes herself out of bed and decides to make come coffee and wake herself up. She figures that she can stay up all day today and then go to sleep at a reasonable hour to catch up on sleep instead of bothering to struggle to go to sleep only to be rudely awakened by some tiger, whether black or white, it doesn't matter.

As she begins the process of getting her coffee started she remembers something that Mr. Kadam had told her when he caught her drinking coffee to wake herself up. _Apples will wake you up more than coffee._

_If you lied to me, I'm gonna throw an apple at your face,_ Kelsey thinks before her mind goes to things she can say after it hits his forehead like, "So apples wake you up, huh? Feeling sleepy?" or "Did that wake you up?" and things of the like while she washes off her honey crisp apple, one of the most delicious hybrids that she'd ever tasted. She dries off her apple and looks at it skeptically, wondering how this fruit could wake her up more than caffeine for a moment before taking her first bite. After about an hour she feels like she can make it through the day, but she knows that there are no guarantees that this will happen. _I guess it's apples all day for me._

She moves towards the living room and then sits on the couch, something much too comfortable if she wants to stay awake so she gets up (after several minutes of internal debate) and shuffles around aimlessly with her mind buzzing with what she could do to stay conscious.

07:03. She's wasted roughly two and a half hours of her life moving around and trying to stay awake. The brunette can't help the sense of irritation that courses through her at the sight of the clock and wills it to go faster so she can crawl into bed and try to go to sleep.

_Exercise is a good way to wake up,_ she thinks. _Nothing too much and I could probably stay awake._

With this in mind she turns and damn near busts her head on the arm of the couch because her foot had decided that it wanted to flirt with the rug.

Cursing quietly, she makes her way to the gym and by makes her way, she stumbles, dragging her tired limbs and switching from muttering curses to thinking them. She's desperate to wake up, but more than that, she'd desperate to go to curl in bed and go to sleep, but apparently she and sleep had an argument when she wasn't looking.

When nearing the gym she hears movement inside and pauses, wondering if she wanted to be in the state of being a zombie in front of anyone else.

_Who's in there?! It doesn't sound like the usual practice..._ Kelsey thinks as she gets closer and tries to focus on the quiet, measured pants and movements, but can't gather enough. A peek couldn't hurt so she opens the door slightly as quietly as she can and gapes upon seeing Mr. Anik Kadam. She can see that he's practicing hand-to-hand combat, but from how gracefully precise his movements are it could easily be mistaken for dancing. His eyes are closed as if he were imagining a scenario and he moves around the room as if he'd fighting invisible enemies. Still, she sees him in a way she hasn't seen him before.

Shirtless.

She's surprised to see how well he's kept himself, though she doesn't know why she's so surprised when she's seen his biceps get hugged by his short sleeved shirts. His muscles aren't like Ren or Kishan's and just overabundantly present, but they are present, yes, but they are lean and, if Kelsey were honest with herself, more alluring. Without her consent her body walks into the gym quietly as possible and she watches his movements as if they were hypnotizing her.

Despite some rational part of her mind telling her to leave him to his practice and go to find something else to do, or, better yet, sleep, she stands there and watches with more interest than she should have with a man that she should have no interest in.

He suddenly swings a kick in her direction and she squeals and flinches with her hands automatically going up to protect her head. When nothing happens she dares to glance up at Mr. Kadam who stares at her with surprised dark brown eyes while his foot is merely inches from her hands (normally she'd complain, but gratefulness that it didn't connect with her face prevents her from doing so).

"Miss Kelsey, what are you doing up?"

"I-I couldn't sleep."

_Why did you stutter?! Why the hell did you stutter?!_ Kelsey demands herself as he pulls his leg away and down so that he stands on two feet.

"You shouldn't come in here when I'm practicing, I could've hurt you," he scolds.

"I'm sorry," she murmurs.

He turns and walks over to where his things are placed and grabs a towel and wipes the sweat off of his body before grabbing a muscle shirt and throwing it on, much to Kelsey's disappointment. "You say that you couldn't sleep and yet you look exhausted," he notes as he grabs a bottle of water.

Immediately her annoyance with sleep returns, though it doesn't stop the insistent complaints of his shirt being put on that continue in the back of her mind, a confusing matter that she will deal with later. "I couldn't fall asleep so I'm just gonna stay awake all day."

A frown. "That's not very healthy."

"I ate an apple," she says, which reminds her that she has an apple to throw at him later. "That should keep doctors away."

Despite her joke he doesn't laugh, but merely gives her a concerned look. "Miss Kelsey..."

She sighs. "Okay, it'll be the last time I do that."

He nods and then takes a swig of water, assured that she'll do just what she's said. "So, you've come to the gym in hopes of waking up?"

"Yes," she confirms, rather not adding that she's wide awake after seeing what she just saw.

"Would you like me to show you some exercises to help wake you up?"

_Play it cool,_ she thinks and nods with a shrug that she hopes doesn't look awkward and jerky and a slightly hopeful look. "If you want."

_Yeah, that's soooo cool,_ she thinks sarcastically. _Wait... am I flirting?!_

She's never been the best at flirting, and she knows this, but the fact that she actually has to question it makes her wonder about many things. The powerful draw she's felt to Ren suddenly doesn't seem as strong and the temptations that Kishan has suddenly don't seem as tempting. Her assumption that she were to be with one of the brothers isn't as definite as she thought.

_Maybe there's a third option._

Where _did _you_ come from?!_ She thinks to the previous thought as he starts the lesson.

"These are a few things that should help wake your body up. Nothing too gruesome, just some stretches," he explains before lifting his arms as if he's just woken up. "This will stretch your shoulder muscles, one of the more tense areas for after you get sleep, or in your case, after trying to sleep."

She does this and she feels a yawn building up and turns her head and yawns into her lifted arm. "Sorry."

He chuckles. "It's no problem... next shake off your legs, if you have poor circulation in your feet and they're cold, this should warm them since there is blood flowing now. Each of these are to get your blood to move and wake up up."

She nods and does as told, finding herself a bit more awake. Finally he has her stand on her tip toes and she stretches and lets out a final yawn before feeling quite awake.

"Thank you Mr. Kadam."

"No need to thank me," he assures as he smiles sweetly.

_Awww, that's adorable,_ she thinks before mentally having Samuel L. Jackson slap her (for some odd reason she can't explain, it just came to mind) and shout how she doesn't think that Mr. Kadam is quote, unquote, cute.

"I have every reason to thank you... would you like some breakfast?"

"I wouldn't mind some breakfast," he nods.

He walks over to the door and she allows herself, for a moment, to admire him from behind. Kelsey decides that admiring the physical prowess of Mr. Kadam isn't considered cheating-

_Cheating?! Who said anything about that? Am I actually considering to do something with Mr. Kadam?_ She thinks rapidly while walking to the door. Her eyes travel back to admire Mr. Kadam and some part of her agrees that id she had the chance, she'd do a lot of things with him (A/N: Get your dirty minds outta the gutter, this is supposed to be semi-kid friendly!).

She picks up her pace and makes it to the kitchen before Mr. Kadam could and goes into the fridge. Despite how he's confusing her out of control hormones and mind, she's still angry that the apple only worked for a few hours and wants to keep to her mental promise of throwing an apple at his face. She wants to be clever so as she gets the apple se sifts through all the clever things she could say and then turns around and quickly throws it at him, but it's half-hearted because she doesn't want to hurt him.

Unsurprisingly he catches it with ease and raises an eyebrow at her.

"You said they'd wake me up more than coffee, but they didn't."

_Damn it, out of all the amazing things you could've said, you said _that_?! What's wrong with you today?!_

07:51 and Kelsey's already made a fool of herself multiple times this morning and even if she hasn't, she feels that she has.

"That's because you've gotten no sleep and you'll be exhausted no matter what you do," he informs.

She groans and sits down on a stool at the island and watches him wash the apple.

He turns around and notices her watching him with a broad grin. "Enjoying the view, Miss Kelsey?"

She straightens with a jerk and blushes as her eyes look everywhere, but at him. "W-what?"

Mr. Kadam chuckles. "I'll take that as a yes."

_Muddaluva,_ she thinks as she huffs and turn her gaze away from him. "Shuddup."

He grins and takes a bite of his apple, looking satisfied. She grabs herself another apple and they eat together in a comfortable yet awkward silence. Any time she gets ready to talk she shies away because it feels awkward to try and start talking. Even after disposing of their finished apples the silence goes on and she's left trying not to look at his arms.

Mentally she curses and thinks, _Either take that off or put on a shirt!_

"Something's on your mind," he notes as he plays with his beard and glances at the young American. "Go ahead and say it."

_Thinkthinkthinkthinkthink!_ And she feels as quick as the Grinch when he thought of his lie (I watched it last week and I'm looking at the cover, don't judge me), "I was wondering about the ka- martial arts that you were doing."

His eyebrows raise. "What about it?"

"Would you teach me sometime?" Honestly she wanted to be able to do as he does, but she doesn't know if she could ever be as graceful as Mr. Kadam.

Coffee colored eyes observe her, more than likely to see if she actually means it before he nods. "I will, but today, you need to rest, we aren't doing much today."

"But-" she protests as she's lead back towards her bedroom.

"No 'buts,' Miss Kelsey, your first lesson starts in soon enough, but in order to function at all and be of any use you must get some sleep." With this being said she's gently pushed into her room and, much to her embarrassment, tucked into bed. "Sweet dreams."

"G'night," she murmurs as warmth envelopes her and urges her into sleep.

He walks out of the room and leaves her to rest.

* * *

HAT: You know this is gonna turn into something. Dang it, why did inspiration get me into something else?!

Ren: You're ADD?

HAT: *rolls eyes and shoves Ren out of the room* Shuddup! *rubs temples and mouths* _Ahinsa. _Ren could be someone's favorite.

Ren: I thought you were trying to be nice!

HAT: I am... sometimes.

Ren: Mhm... Review, please!

Mr. Kadam: *walks in* HAT, black hole number 15's open in the living room.

HAT: Oh, crap! *shoves Ren out* Take over, Mr. Kadam!

Ren: But I already-

HAT: Shush! You gotta help me with the fishing hook, _Titanic _movie, and toothpicks.

Ren: *sighs*

Mr. Kadam: *smiles charmingly* Would you please review for me? *hears explosion and groans* Please don't tell me you blew up the couch again!

HAT: Um... no?


	2. Flickering Flames

HAT: Alriiiiight, second chapter! Hope that you enjoy it! Love is accepted, constructive criticism is welcome, and hate is a waste of time for both me and you so let's be positive unicorns and spread the love!

**Disclaimer: I barely own this, just to let you know. The plot goes to Let's Read with Nella! Tiger's Curse**

* * *

Kelsey bites her bottom lip as she puts on the track suit left in her room. Today is her first day of "training" with Mr. Kadam and, for some reason, she fears that it will be much worse than working out with Kishan could ever be. With each brother having told her stories of their training with the older man, her caution is upped a few levels and she can't help, but hope that he'll take it easy on her; after all for most of her life she's been nothing, but a lazy American.

Without her permission her thoughts travel to the night she walked in on Mr. Kadam practicing his martial arts. It'd been a few weeks, but it's something that comes to mind way too often. Still, the view was very much appreciated, she has to admit.

She quickly shakes her head and finishes getting ready and reluctantly lets the fear take over. She asked for this, so she shouldn't be scared, but damn it if the stories that she'd been told by Ren and Kishan didn't make her at least wary. She just needs to survive and make it though and then curse herself for taking on this task when she returns to the sanctuary of her room where the only ones that might hear her would understand her pain and be unable to mock her for taking on such an impossible task. Or at least she can only hope since one or both may or may not be inclined to do this.

_You can do it,_ she thinks before she starts her journey down the stairs, her doubt flickering into a small candle flame. She can only hope to keep it in such a small flame that size so it won't erupt into a large forest fire if she can't dampen it or snuff it out.

"Miss Kelsey, I see that you're up and early," Mr. Kadam says with a broad grin. "I thought the boys would run you off."

"No, I said I wanted to learn so I will," Kelsey insists as she pulls her hair into a bun.

"Don't complain to me when you're on the earth begging for mercy," he chuckles, causing her to pale as he walks out.

She blinks and gets her voice back, but it's a croak. "W-wait, what?"

Kelsey is left to follow him and she does so with more reluctance than she had walking downstairs. That candle flame has turned to a powerful campfire and nearly about to turn into a forest fire if he keeps this up. She finds him stretching and decides to follow his lead without question, her breath a little hitched. Forget being nervous around Mr. Kadam because she saw him half-naked; what does he have planned for exercise and will she survive?

"We're gonna run a mile," he explains.

"Run?!" The young American asks with a strained voice.

"Jog or walk, whichever works for you," he shrugs.

She eyes the forest around them. "So... what about the deadly animals in the forest?"

"It's not that dangerous, save for the odd snake or two," he assures before he takes off.

She reluctantly jogs after him.

-2 Hours Later-

Not only did they run a mile, but right afterward they got into multiple spars, Mr. Kadam claiming that exhausted or not that she may have to fight someone and need to be able to at least fend them off for a little while, however short on time she may be.

Now, currently, she has no fame to extinguish and she's lying in the dirt, swallowing the air with deep, ragged breaths. This is the first break that's lasted longer than two minutes that she's gotten and she's never been so exhausted in her life. She's physically drained and she doesn't care if any bugs crawl on her anymore, she just wants air in her lungs and strength in her limbs so that she can go crawl into bed and rest.

"Miss Kelsey, you're not supposed to collapse!" Mr. Kadam says, grabbing her arm and standing her up. "You're supposed to walk and slow your heart rate."

"Too tired."

He sighs and supports her while walking her back to the house. "Well, you'll get better with time. This is a conditioning period so it'll take a lot of time."

"Nhn... Could I get some water?" She asks as they enter the house.

"Sure, just sit here," he grunts as he sets her on the chair. "And stay sitting up."

"No promises."

With a roll of his eyes he walks out of the living room and into the kitchen. After several minutes he walks out with two tall glasses of ice water and as soon as the glass is in Kelsey's hand she gulps down about half of the water is gone instantly.

Mr. Kadam smiles in amusement as he sips on his water and wipes his forehead of sweat. "You know, Miss Kelsey, that you don't have to continue with this."

"I know, but I want to."

He observes her for a few moments then chuckles. "You never cease to amaze me."

She smiles. "I just wanna get stronger to protect those that I love. I can't always rely on this lightning power..."

Then she comes to the realization at her words. She can't always rely on others or the tools that they've gained on quests. One day she might have to rely on her own strength to save those that she loves or even to save herself. She can't do that if she never trains or if she doesn't make an attempt at the least. She refuses to stand aside and rely completely on others and to rely on something that may be useless later. She has to rely on herself at a moment's notice.

"I admire your determination. I hope that doesn't break anytime soon," he murmurs as he takes another sip of his water.

Her eyes widen. "What?!"

He smiles sheepishly. "You can't expect warrior training to be easy, can you? It's gruesome and used to break the weak and strengthen the strong. I should hope that you are strong."

"I hope so too..."

* * *

HAT: I know it's been a while, but as soon as the inspiration came, it left, then came back again... Weird, right?

Kelsey: You make it sound like Mr. Kadam's gonna kill me by training.

HAT: You can't expect warrior training to be easy, especially when their physical fitness was a lot better back then. Natural diet and all that.

Kelsey: Well, true...

HAT: *sighs* You know, you're my least favorite character along with Ren? You're only my favorite whenever I read fanficiton, really, or on this.

Kelsey: And Ren?

HAT: *gives a look*

Kelsey: Okay, understandable.

HAT: Will you please say it?

Kelsey: Please review.


	3. Curry Ain't That Bad

HAT: Third chapter, woo-hoo! I feel like this is gonna be kinda cliché, but... might as well! Hope that you all enjoy!

**Disclaimer: I barely own this, just to let you know. The plot goes to Let's Read with Nella! Tiger's Curse. Also Tiger's Curse goes to the rightful owner (I don't remember her name at this second, leave me alone)... though if I did own Tiger's Curse, there would've been a lot of changes, like giving Kishan a fighting chance or making Lokesh more likable to give some conflict or something or more Mr. Kadam interaction, or things that make sense... Anyway, I'm just gonna let you read.**

* * *

"I hate you," Kelsey grumbles after sparring practice in the forest.

Mr. Kadam laughs, but pays her no mind as he searches the refrigerator for something for the both of them to eat.

"Hey, Kelsey!" A certain dark haired man with unique colored eyes says as he plops himself right next to the American girl.

"Hey Kishan," Kelsey says with a bright smile.

"Hello Kelsey," Ren says behind her, but it doesn't send the familiar shivers down her spine like they used to.

_Perhaps I'm too tired to react,_ she thinks as she guzzles down her second bottle of water and gives a lazy wave.

"How was training with Mr. Kadam," Ren asks with a teasing tone.

She removes the bottle from her lips and points at him. "Watch it."

He holds his hands up in defense and chuckles. "Yes, ma'am."

Kishan smirks. "I bet my training's easy in comparison."

"Got that right."

Mr. Kadam walks out of the kitchen and sets a plate of food and sets it in front of her. "Chapatti and Lauki Ki Sabji. Enjoy."

Kishan frowns. "Why did you never make us food?!"

"I did when you were younger, besides, she just got started," Mr. Kadam explains as he settles down to eat.

Kelsey smiles shyly and digs in, eating as quickly as she can when she finds out how hungry she actually is. She's sure that if there were curry she'd not mind at all and still devour the meal with as much enthusiasm as she does now. Upon finishing she feels energized, but still tired and unwilling to move.

"Don't get too relaxed," Kishan murmurs.

Before Kelsey could open her mouth Mr. Kadam has her upper arm in his grip and is dragging her. "W-where are we going?"

A smile- one that could almost be called mischievous- forms on his face. "We're not done training! We've still got to do more for your stamina and work on your form, but that can come later. You've had enough rest."

Ren at least has the decency to attempt to not laugh... at first. Soon both brothers are guffawing at Kelsey and she glares at them before she's pulled out of sight. She makes a silent vow to spit in their food next time she makes it, but for now she focuses on getting enough air in her lungs to at least cool her down a little more.

Upon entering the gym she remembers that night, but she quickly discards any such thoughts and focuses on what she's here to do. She's here to train and work on her stamina. Even for some Americans, she has to admit, she's done little to maintain herself and it's only lucky for her she hasn't had her metabolism drop yet. Before taking self-defense classes and this, she could do very little to protect herself, let alone others, but now she'd rectify that.

_Boy, I sure wish I'd gone with Mike and Sarah all those times they offered to take me jogging_, Kelsey can't help but think as she goes through warm-ups.

"For now we'll focus on your upper body then work our way down," the man informs as he glances around. "I think starting you out on weights will help a little since I know you can't do that many push ups."

Her mouth opens to defend herself, but she thinks better of it and merely says, "Okay," like the obedient girl she is.

"Go get the ten pound dumbbells and lift them," he says, taking some that are larger and holding them at his sides like they weight nothing. She picks one up and knows that she can survive- for now- with this. "Good. Now do as I do."

_Don't focus on flexing muscles,_ she insists and then copies him.

Before long her arms are on fire and he's telling her to put them away. Then- much to her horror- he holds up wristbands that she knows are weights. She gives him an incredulous look and quickly puts her hands behind her back and clasps them in hopes that at least her fingers have the strength to keep them there when her arms don't.

"Miss Kelsey," he says with a scolding tone.

With a sigh she holds out her hands only to immediately drop then when the weights are put onto her arms. "_Gosh!_" She hisses harshly before looking up at her trainer. "How much do these weigh?"

"About... thirty pounds each... about the weight of a child," he assures before smiling. "It only weights that much right now because your arms are tired... Now for the legs."

"So these weights are strengthening my limbs?"

"And making you faster. When you take these off not only will you be stronger, but your limbs will move faster with lighter weights."

"That's cool," she murmurs, mentally scolding herself for sounding uninterested as he puts the last weight on her legs. "So what now?"

"We're going to spar."

Kelsey groans and glances up at the heavens to beg for mercy, but obviously she is getting none as Mr. Kadam gets into the starting position and waits for her to get into her own.

Needless to say she ended up on the ground multiple times and made to get up again. She was forced to act as if her weights weren't there and kept getting hit because of the delay in her movements. Several minutes later she's allowed to walk- more like trudge- to slow down her heart rate and have the rest of the day to herself.

She moves to take the weights off put gets her had slapped- which reminds her of getting her hand slapped when she tried to sneak cookies from the cookie jar when she was a child. "What was that for?"

It didn't hurt, but it was offensive enough to call for the question.

"You are to keep those on until I say so. You may take them off when you shower, but otherwise those stay on all day, every day until you get used to them," he orders.

"You're such a slave driver," she mumbles.

He chuckles. "You asked for this."

She can't deny it so she merely trudges to the living room and falls onto the couch over the back only to put her hand on the edge and keep herself from falling onto a sleeping- or it could be napping- Nilima despite how tired she is.

Kelsey carefully brings herself to her feet and goes to the loveseat and curls up on it. Never before has something as uncomfortable as the fetal position (to her anyway) been so comfortable before. The boys- who went unnoticed by her- purr in amusement in their tiger forms and she sticks out her tongue childishly because she can't bring herself to think of a coherent retort to get back at them in her exhausted state.

Kishan is the first to turn back into a man and sits on the arm of the chair near her head. Normally she would complain and whine about a few strands of hair being pinned underneath his rear end, but currently she just glares up at him.

"Awww, is Kelsey-_hime_ tired?"

"Kelsey-_what?_" Said female demands.

"Our mother was Japanese," Ren explains (A/N: Because I'm into anime hardcore at the moment and "our mother is Asian" just doesn't do it anymore). "_Hime _means princess."

"I'm not used to you two using anything, but Hindu," she mutters, remembering hearing _hime_ being said in a few anime that she's watched when she had to switch to subbed. "So have you ever called Mr. Kadam, Kadam sensei?"

"Not really, I suppose, but we mainly stuck with our father's language," Ren shrugs.

"Besides, most of our kingdom wouldn't understand us if we spoke our mother's language," Kishan adds as he begins to play with her hair.

Kelsey doesn't bother batting his hands away and lets out a yawn. "Wake me up when the food's done."

"Okay," the brothers chorus.

-These are the Breaks! Break it up, Break it up, Break down!-  
(A/N: Hehe, I like that song... I might use ^that^ more often...)

Kelsey opens her eyes after ten minutes and glares into blue eyes. "You know... the food could have cooled down a little before you called me... right?"

He smiles sheepishly. "Sorry..."

"No you're not," she grumbles as she pushes herself up and goes into the dining room. After several minutes she finds that three men and one woman are all staring at her in disbelief as she chews her food and she quickly swallows to ask, "What?"

"I thought you said you didn't like curry?" Ren muttered.

"I don't."

Kishan raises an eyebrow. "Apparently now you do."

Kelsey's eyebrows come together in confusion. "Why?"

"You were using it like it was your favorite salsa dip," Ren answers.

She looks down at the chip she was about to consume and blinks. "Huh? That's weird."

Mentally she prepares a list of possibilities: 1) She was too exhausted to care what she ate (which was a good possibility), 2) Her body needed more food so her tongue didn't care, and 3) (and this was far fetched) Some magic was used. She didn't quite think that the last one would work, but after her adventures she wouldn't completely count it out as a possibility.

With a shrug she continues to eat to give her body energy for her late night practice with Kishan and Ren in the gym. She remembers their reluctance to help her get in some extra training because "it might put a strain on your body," but after thoroughly confirming that she will stay within the perimeters of her body's capabilities they agreed. She can't help, but think of the surprise that will come on Mr. Kadam's face when she's better able to hold her own against him.

_Two opponents will make fighting one much easier,_ she thinks as she gets up and washes the dishes.

"Miss Kelsey."

She turns around at the feminine voice. "Yes, Nilima?"

"You're planning something, aren't you?"

"Why do you ask?"

A knowing look crosses the woman's face. "You act like I'm not a Kadam."

The young American's face turns pink. "I'm gonna get some extra training in with Kishan and Ren."

Nilima shakes her head. "Rest is important for the body, Miss Kelsey. Maybe you should spend time with me."

"You know how to fight?"

"Well, of course. I also know a few things about the human body that may be useful like pressure points and such. You could study that so it won't feel like you're wasting time on your break days outside of the quest."

Kelsey smiles warmly. "Thank you, Nilima, it's much appreciated."

"It's no problem."

* * *

HAT: It took forever, but I'm starting to get into the swing of this. After reading a lot of Naruto fanfics I've gotten some ideas on some things that Kelsey will learn what to do, one of which learning about the body's pressure points. I won't bore you with any other things like that.

Lokesh: I think they might be interested.

HAT: *shrugs* Maybe, maybe not.

Lokesh: *rolls eyes* You're an interesting young lady.

HAT: *grins* Of course!... aren't you gonna say it.

Lokesh: No.

HAT: *jumps on his back for a piggy back ride* I'll force you to be my horse for the rest of the day if you don't say it!

Lokesh: *growls* Get off!

HAT: Nope!~

Lokesh: *sighs* Review... Why am I a character you like?

HAT: I can do a lot of things with you in fanfics and not only that, but you annoy me a lot less than Ren and Kelsey.

Lokesh: Touche.


	4. Studying & Early Mornings Are Hard

HAT: Alright, I'm gonna tell you guys the truth... I don't have an actual plot for this. But I know that Mr. Kadam isn't always going to be Kelsey's focus because let's face it: despite how much one loves someone, they don't spend all their time with each other or obsess over each other all the time. People need to spend time with multiple people. Anyway, enjoy!

**Disclaimer: I barely own the plot and I don't own the characters... Sadness...**

* * *

Kelsey lounges in the living room on her claimed swivel chair and reads up on the some odd three hundred sixty-five pressure points that are in the human body and what each one does. She's surprised at how many are located on just the bottom of the feet. The healing purposes- she decides- can be useful just in case any one of the men get hurt or simply are in pain. She's sure that- despite how well she usually studied- she'll more than likely retain this information if she also applies it- under supervision of course. Still, she is within the first few pages and knows she has much more to learn.

"How's the studying doing?" Ren asks, leaning against the top of her chair and trying to see what she's looking at.

"It's going alright. I'm gonna have Nilima teach me a little more on a dummy- you and Kishan will work- and help me get it down," she answers with a smirk.

Ren gapes at her with his hand on his chest. "I have you know that only one of us fits that category."

_He seriously didn't leave me that opening did he?_ She thinks as she casually flips to the next page of the book. "Good to know that you have faith in Kishan's mental state."

He scrunches his noes in an adorable way and gives her a glare. "That's low."

"You left yourself open," she shrugs. "How're the plans for the bonding trip going?"

He pouts. "Kishan's not being cooperative at all."

"_I'm _not being cooperative?" Said brother demands as he enters the living room.

_Here we go again,_ she thinks as she carefully places her finger in between the pages to keep her place as she settles to watch the two have it out.

"Yes, _you _weren't being cooperative."

"Okay, get this," Kishan says as he turns to Kelsey and jerks his thumb toward his brother. "This guy wants us to go to dinner in a restaurant even though we could turn into tigers and not only that, but he also wants to see the _sappiest _movie in Bollywood theaters right now."

"Well _he _wants to go hunting as tigers and then spar for a while."

"It's what we used to do as kids- save for the being tigers part."

Kelsey giggles and makes a few suggestions, but they are quickly shut down. Obviously she's not as intuitive on male bonding as she hoped she would be. Soon enough she notices Nilima out of the corner of her eye and contemplates whether or not if this woman will know more about male bonding and figures- as a grown woman- she will be and gestures for her to come over.

"Nilima, would you know how to help these two find a compromise since I'm incapable?"

"I think I can if I hear the problem," she confirms and turns to the boys to assess the situation.

Kelsey gives them little mind- knowing that Nilima is more than prepared for anything than anyone she knows- other than Mr. Kadam, but since they are related she doesn't count them as rivals to one another in terms of being prepared and knowledgeable.

_Acupressure can be used to remedy aches and pains, but can those same points be used in the reverse?_ Kelsey had thought, before she had turned to the next page. So far she has learned that certain parts of the body helps relief stress and depression along with pains- which she never considered before since she never lingered on random facts of acupressure before. Acupuncture is another story. She had decided that she doesn't want needles anywhere in her body unless it's donating blood or getting her shots (and even then she has no choice).

"How's the studying coming along?" Nilima asks as she sits down beside Kelsey and looks at the book. "Any questions?"

Kelsey tilts her head to rest on Nilima's head. "Is Dim Mak real? If it is why hasn't it mentioned harmful pressure points?"

Nilima giggles. "Patience, my young American friend. You're only within the first two chapters."

"It's so _thin,_" Kelsey defends.

The woman rolls her eyes before looking back at the book. "You're very impatient."

"It's called selective patience."

Nilima laughs and shakes her head in amusement before delving into the lesson with Kelsey.

* * *

"Miiiss Keeeelsey."

"Not now," grumbles the previously sleeping American while she buries her face deeper into the pillow so that her face would become warm.

"Wrong answer."

Before she could her head she's thrown over Mr. Kadam's shoulder and he's carrying her out of her room. She blinks until the world is no longer blurry and shivers at the cold air that hits her exposed skin that was previously nestled in a nest of didn't even have the decency to take the covers with him to cover her.

"What time is it?" she demands.

"About... five-twenty," he answers.

She knees his chest and make shim grunt, but he doesn't put her down. "You couldn't have waited another three hours like a normal person?!"

"You wanted this training, you're getting it."

"Is it too late to give up?" she asks as they do down the stairs, almost too far to go back to bed.

"Are you going to?"

She closes her eyes and thinks of all the training she's gone through over the past couple of weeks- the time and _energy_ that went into it- and the fact that she has to get _saved_ every time she's in trouble by a couple of tigers. She doesn't want to rely on them anymore. She wants to stand on her own.

With a heavy sigh she bows her head with eyes still closed to keep the image of herself that she wants. "Let's go train."

She could practically _hear_ his grin when he says, "That's my girl!"

She smiles at that, but she doesn't understand completely why

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HAT: It's been _so long_ since I've updated this. I mean, I know I'm still waiting on a few stories of my own that've taken longer than me, but _still_, it's been so long. I just keep jumping from fandom to fandom all the time!

Nilima: You need to work on that.

HAT: I know.

Nilima: Hopefully inspiration for all our incomplete stories will come back and stay in along with your other inspirations.

HAT: *nods* I know right... anyway, do you want to say it?

Nilima: Please, review.


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